Sathya Sai Baba as Avatar: "HIs Story" and the History of an Idea
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2 2 . . 2 2 B B e e c c o o m m i i n n g g B B a a b b a a ; ; B B h h a a r r a a d d v v ā ā j j a a 1 1 0 0 1 1 Kasturi, ‘Sathya Sai Baba’s paternal grandfather was a locally renowned ‘master of music and the histrionic art’. Interestingly, in light of what we will see to be Sathya Sai Baba’s extensive knowledge of avatar traditions, Thurston and Ran- gachari (1909:1.224-225) observe that this caste is said to be ‘well versed in folk- lore’ and historical traditions. And significantly—in light of what I have noted to be Sathya Sai Baba’s prolific output of ex tempore speeches, and his propensity for innovation—they write that the Bhaṭrājus are said to ‘have a wonderful faculty in speaking improvisatore on any subject proposed to them’. Sathya Sai Baba himself connects this last faculty with his divine persona, say- ing on one occasion ‘I had no idea of speaking to you this evening, but of course, I need no preparation. My Sankalpa ([Divine] resolve) and its fulfilment are instan- taneous’ 15 . But it seems likely that this was originally a trait developed by his an- cestors in the royal courts, for Madhao Patil (1999:162) notes that several of the rulers of the South Indian kingdom Vijayanagara—under the jurisdiction of which Puttaparthi once fell (see Fig.23, p.280 below): took delight in listening to the compositions of their court poets… Often the king would tell them to compose an instant poem on a given situation so as to test their literary abilities. Indeed, Thurston and Rangachari (1909:1.223-224) write that the Bhaṭrājus ‘were originally attached to the courts of the Hindu princes as bards’, although: ‘Most of them are now cultivators, and only a few are ballad reciters’. Thurston and Ran- gachari (1909:1.228) also note that, with one exception, the Bhaṭrājus are ‘the only non-Brāhman caste… [w]hich performs the duties of guru or religious in- structor’. Sathya Sai Baba hence has no need to claim affiliation with a Brahmin gotra, something that all but completely refutes the above quoted suggestions of Bowen and Swallow to this effect 16 .
and these confirm Sathya Sai Baba’s membership thereof: ‘They are non- vegetarians’ (Sathya Sai Baba’s official biography tells of his struggles with his family over this issue—he is a staunch vegetarian 17 ); ‘They use Raju as their title’ (we have seen some instances of this); and ‘They bury the dead’ (this is unusual in 15 (2-8-1958) S1 12:69 16 Cf., however, Haraldsson (1997), p.55. 17 See, e.g., Gerson (1998:9) NB Despite this, vegetarianism has generally not been a strong focus of Sathya Sai Baba’s movement—although a devotee recently reported the ‘happy news’ that ‘Put- taparthi police have banned selling chicken’ within a 9km radius of Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram ([http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saidevotees_worldnet/message/2074 [27-2-2007]).
1 1 0 0 2 2 2 2 . . S S T T U U D D I I E E S S O O F F S S A A T T H H Y Y A A S S A A I I B B A A B B A A India, but Sathya Sai Baba tells of his regular visits, on his birthday, to pay his re- spects at the tomb of his parents 18 , and a devotee reports that Sathya Sai Baba’s brother was ‘buried as is, as per family custom’ 19 ). Singh writes that ‘Bhatraju is derived from the words bhat, meaning lord and raju, meaning ruler’, but this seems to be something of a folk-etymology—Monier- Williams’ Sanskrit dictionary lists the word bhaṭa, from which Bhaṭ presumably derives, as meaning ‘servant’, and gives a verb bhaṭayati as meaning, ‘to speak’. It would seem that the name thus comes from the fact that the Bhaṭrājus once served as reciters of genealogy and history for the Rāju (kṣatriya) caste that once ruled Puttaparthi 20 . Indeed, Sathya Sai Baba’s most recent biographer, Padmanaban (2000:24,n6)—aligning Sathya Sai Baba with the Bhaṭrājus—notes that ‘A Bhat Raju was so called because he praised kings and royal personages with songs and poetry’. Padmanaban (2000:11) also suggests a derivation of this name from the caste being an offshoot of the Rājus which ‘has long since abandoned its militant Kshatriya role and taken up interpreting and popularising sacred literature’, but this is an (unacknowledged) quote from Kasturi (1989a:19), and seems to be something of an instance of “folk-ethnology” on the part of the latter. A similar case, involving folk-etymology, is that of Haraldsson (1997:55), who asserts that Sathya Sai Baba’s family ‘belonged to the Raju caste, a low caste whose duties in old India were to praise their king or raja by songs and poetry’; the (incorrect) im- plication being that Rāju somehow means “one who praises a ‘Rājā”. Haraldsson is also perhaps following Kasturi, and he goes on to note that Sathya Sai Baba’s family name is ‘Ratnakara’ (i.e. “Ocean”). Singh (1996:1145) lists one of the few surnames used by the Bhaṭrājus as ‘Ratnakaram’, extra confir- mation, if any is needed, that he belongs to this caste. Furthermore, Kasturi’s (1989:19) description of day-to-day life in Sathya Sai Baba’s family before he was born ties in with what we have just seen: The home of the Ratnakaram Rajus was a hive of activity all day. The men were busy writing and rehearsing plays, setting poems to music and learning to play on many an instrument. …over them all presided the patriarch Kondama Raju, the friend and guide, the sustenance and support of young and old who came from the villages around to fall at his feet and receive his patriarchal touch. Sathya Sai Baba spent a lot of his time in his childhood with Kondama Raju (his 18 (19-11-1998) http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume31/sss31-40.pdf [27-3-2007] 19 Swami’s_youngest_brother_dies.doc (28-10-2003, received via a personal communication). 20 Cf. Sathyam-1 2-3. Yüklə 5,66 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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